Man with automatic weapon, grenades, detained near Istanbul palace

Thursday, January 01, 2015 - 01:10

Turkish police neutralize an alleged assailant near the Turkish prime minister's office and local media say he was carrying an automatic weapon and threw a homemade bomb at police. Mana Rabiee reports.

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Turkish police in Istanbul 'shoo' away a cameraman from the the prime minister's palace.
'There's a bomb here,' he says.
His colleagues neutralize an assailant to the ground.
Local media say police detained a man carrying an automatic weapon near the prime minister's office.
This, after the suspect reportedly threw a homemade bomb at police.
Media here say the bomb failed to go off.
(SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) ISTANBUL POLICE CHIEF, SELAMI ALTINOK, SAYING:
"A man, who we believe to be a member of a known terrorist organization, threw two hand grenades at the police cabin at the entrance of the Dolmabahce palace and then opened fire. Our colleagues caught him as he tried to run away."
Police say the man is about 30 years old, has done time in prison, and has ties to terrorist organizations but haven't given further details on that.
In the past, Kurdish insurgents, nationalists, Islamists and left wing groups have all targeted security forces in Turkey.
It wasn't immediately clear if the prime minister was in the palace at the time.
The offices there are also used by President Tayyip Erdogan.